Solution to river pollution sought

JAKARTA (JP): An environmentalist said the government should settle the long-standing pollution problem in the Ciujung River, Serang, West Java, or risk "erosion of the public trust".

The measures the government has taken are inadequate to stop the pollution and companies located near the river continue to dump toxic waste into the water, Mas Achmad Santosa from the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) said yesterday.

The contamination in the river that local residents use for various purposes worsens during the dry season when the flow is substantially reduced, he said.

Villagers in Pamarayan, Kragilan and Pontang and Tirtayasa use the river water for daily activities like washing and drinking.

After villagers reported the pollution to the State Minister for Environment two years ago, the government has taken a series of actions which did bring some results.

"But earlier this year, the problem got serious: The Ciujung River was again heavily polluted by industrial waste from nearby companies," Santosa said.

Following complaints from local people, the West Java authorities examined the water in the river in October 1992 and concluded that PT Indah Kiat continued dumping used oil and other waste into the river, he said.

In December 1992, PT Fega, a shrimp pond company, reported to the Office of the State Minister for Environment and the Agency for Environmental Impact Management (Bapedal) that it was affected by the pollution.

In response to PT Fega's complaint, the government formed two teams in charge of monitoring and controlling pollution in the river. They then probed the case but local people did not have access to the results of the investigation, Santosa said.

Santosa said that the teams were formed to settle the problems among PT Fega and the polluting industries, but "not for the benefit of the local people and traditional shrimp farmers."

"The efforts (to settle the pollution problem) without involving the local people are doomed to discourage public participation in the environmental management," Santosa added.

A survey conducted by the Center for Fishery Research and Development of the Agriculture Ministry last year showed that the waste dumped by polluting companies in the Ciujung River was in fact toxic chemicals.

Santosa said ICEL sent a letter to the Serang regent last month calling for a thorough settlement of the problem, but he had not given any response.(sim)